National Initiative Brings Together Universities and Employers to Double the Impact of Tech Training

SkillStorm’s Upskill Together project expands access to in-demand industry-recognized credentials; provides free training to individuals from historically underserved communities

SkillStorm announced the launch of Upskill Together, an initiative led by a coalition of universities and employers including Salesforce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Pega, Florida State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas that aims to expand access to high-demand, industry-recognized technology credentials. Led by the tech talent accelerator SkillStorm, Upskill Together includes a unique one-to-one match program that will provide free technology upskilling programs to learners from historically underserved communities for each individual who trains through the platform.

“For too long, the tech industry has treated widespread talent shortages and persistent equity gaps as separate and unrelated challenges — but in reality, they are two sides of the same coin,” said Joe Mitchell, COO of SkillStorm. “With the support of our partners around the country, Upskill Together match scholarships will accelerate economic opportunity for people from all backgrounds, providing pathways to the skills and industry credentials employers need to support their digital transformation initiatives today and into the future.”

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The launch of Upskill Together comes at a critical inflection point for the U.S. workforce: as the pace of technological change continues to accelerate, half of information technology (IT) decision-makers report that the number one reason they continue to face skill gaps is difficulty recruiting and retaining job candidates with relevant expertise. Upskill Together aims to tackle this challenge by providing online, instructor-led training for learners at participating universities to earn in-demand industry-recognized credentials in skills like cloud computing, CRM, and automation.

For each participant who accesses training through one of the initiative’s university or corporate partners, Upskill Together’s one-to-one match scholarship program will provide the exact same training at no cost to a learner with demonstrated financial need, with a focus on supporting women, veterans, and others from groups that are historically underrepresented in the tech industry.

“AWS is on a mission to make it easier for all learners to access tech skills training, through our commitment to train 29 million people by 2025, our vast portfolio of education programs, and our collaborative efforts with education, government, industry, and impactful initiatives like SkillStorm’s Upskill Together,” said Kim Majerus, Vice President, U.S. Education, State and Local Government at AWS. “The intentional effort through Upskill Together will not only help close the tech skills gap, but will also introduce individuals to new career opportunities that they may not have considered without this initiative.”

“We are excited to partner with Authorized Training Provider, SkillStorm to expand their workforce development program and unlock new sources of talent by driving Salesforce skills that lead students to career pathways in the Salesforce ecosystem,” said Amy Regan Morehouse, Salesforce Senior Vice President, Global Salesforce Ecosystem Enablement.

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“Today’s employers are turning to new training and certification forms to ensure that job candidates have the skills to succeed in a fast-paced and increasingly digital world of work,” said Mary Tafuri, vice president, global go-to-market enablement & effectiveness, Pega. “By bringing together leading universities with the most in-demand credentialing providers, Upskill Together is responding to critical labor market demands — and creating new pathways to mobility in the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.”

“Through the first seven months of this year, U.S. employers listed approximately 3.1 million job postings for technology occupations — an increase of nearly 50% over the same period in 2021. The widening gap between employer demand for technology workers and candidates to fill these roles necessitates new thinking and innovative approaches to bring more people from more diverse backgrounds and experiences into the tech workforce,” said Graham Hunter, CompTIA’s executive vice president for global sales. “The Upskill Together program led by SkillStorm and its academic and industry partners holds great promise. CompTIA is pleased to be a part of this important initiative.”

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